Macquarie University

Business and Professional Ethics - PHIL201

This unit provides students with an introduction to some of the main ethical issues raised by the activities of businesses and corporations in contemporary society and introduces some central topics in professional ethics. The first part of the unit examines the roles and responsibilities of businesses and corporations in relation to individuals and society. We ask whether corporations have moral responsibilities to stakeholders other than shareholders and examine competing accounts of economic justice related to this question. Other topics in this section include the ethics of discrimination and affirmative action and the influence of business on government. The second part of the unit begins with an examination of the responsibilities of business in relation to the environment. Other topics in this section include justice and globalization, conflicts of interest in medicine, the ethics of advertising, and whistleblowing. This unit is relevant to students in accounting and business studies as well as those in the humanities and social sciences.